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Like most of us, [Chris] has pined over the very, very inexpensive Chinese laser cutters available on eBay for a while now. When most of us disregarded these machines due to their inability to work with the file formats commonly used with laser cutters, [Chris] took the plunge. He was a might disappointed the included software didn’t [...]

Tags:  laser converting cutter chris laser-cutters laser-cutter ebay hacks  

This is one of those ideas that’s so simple we can’t believe we haven’t heard of it before now. [Johan von Konow] is upping his holiday decorating game this year by designing his Gingerbread House in CAD and cutting it out on a laser cutter. If designed well this will easily allow you to increase the [...]

Tags:  gingerbread cad house johan-von-konow laser-cutter holiday-decorating johan cooking hacks  

[Tom's] dinosaur hoodie would make a bang up Halloween costume. It’s a glowing version of the bony plates you’d find on a Stegosaurus. Not only does it look great at night, you should be able to put one together or yourself in an afternoon. He used a laser cutter to make the translucent fins, but [...]

Tags:  halloween hoodie dinosaur tom bony-plates laser-cutter halloween-costume holiday hacks  

With laser cutters popping up in hackerspaces and maker’s tool sheds like weeds, it’s no surprise we’re seeing an explosion in manufacturing techniques that would be nearly impossible without a laser cutter. One of these techniques is kerf bending, a method of bending plywood simply by burning patterns along the desired bend. [Martin] just put up a [...]

Tags:  laser maker kerf martin bending-plywood laser-cutters laser-cutter cnc hacks  

[Jerry] missed the laser cutters he had been using at the local TechShop. It closed down and after seeing some hardware in a surplus store he decided to build a laser cutter to call his own. You won’t be disappointed by his build log. It’s got a ton of hi-res images and plenty of explanation. [...]

Tags:  laser cutter diy jerry hi-res-images laser-cutters laser-cutter cnc hacks  

If you use Inkscape to lay out your laser cutter designs you might want to look into this box maker extension. Inscape is [Elliot's] drawing software of choice since it’s easy to use, and it’s open source. After having to lay out the tabs for a box he decided it was worth his effort to [...]

Tags:  maker box extension elliot laser-cutter inkscape drawing-software cnc hacks  

If you use Inkscape to lay out your laser cutter designs you might want to look into this box maker extension. Inscape is [Elliot's] drawing software of choice since it’s easy to use, and it’s open source. After having to lay out the tabs for a box he decided it was worth his effort to [...]

Tags:  maker box extension elliot laser-cutter inkscape drawing-software cnc hacks  

[POTUS31] had a need for anodized titanium, but the tried and true “submersion” method was not going to work out well for what he was trying to do. In order to create the look he wanted he had to get creative with some tape, a laser cutter, Coke, and a whole lot of 9v batteries. [...]

Tags:  potus titanium need 9v-batteries laser-cutter anodizing chemistry hacks  

While you’re still waiting for your Raspberry Pi to be delivered, why not build an enclosure for it? This build comes from the fruitful workshop of [builttospec], and gives the Raspi a very nice case well-suited for being placed on your desktop. Like most of [builttospec]‘s case builds, this enclosure was made on a laser cutter [...]

Tags:  raspberry desktop enclosure pc while laser-cutter desktop-pc Rasberry  

[Ryan] just got his Raspberry Pi, and what better way to add a new toy to your workbench than by building a case for it? Using a laser cutter and 3D printer, [Ryan] managed to make a case that is sure to be the envy of all the other tinkerers at his hackerspace. The build [...]

Tags:  case laser cutter ryan laser-cutter 3d-printer new-toy Rasberry  

The folks at Null Space Labs bought a 40W CO2 laser tube in order to build their own laser cutter. Unfortunately nobody really wants to build a laser cutter; they just want to play with a laser cutter. So they ended up biting the bullet and ordering a $4000 model from China. That’s it hovering in [...]

Tags:  hoisting laser cutter w-co china laser-cutter space-labs laser-tube Hackerspaces  

Everyone in the world suffers from some degree of functional fixedness, a proclivity to use tools only how they were meant to be use. A laser cutter, for example, is usually used to make flat, two-dimensional parts. [Seeker] broke out of this cognitive lock when he decided to create an illuminated 3D object with a [...]

Tags:  functional-fixedness laser-cutter 3d-object cnc hacks  

[Nav] got the bug for a tiny little laser cutter. He pulled off the build, and has just finished the second rendition which makes some nice improvements. He’s was hoping for a laser cutter, but we think this really shines when it comes to branding objects like the scrap wood seen above. This joins a [...]

Tags:  laser blu-ray cutter nav laser-cutter scrap-wood engraving cnc hacks  

[Charles] wrote in to share the project he just built for the London Hackerspace. He calls it CoolBot, and as the name indicates it’s responsible for keeping the laser cutter from overheating. At its heart the system is a water pump. It uses a plastic storage container as a reservoir, with an outfeed from the laser [...]

Tags:  plastic-storage-container laser-cutter water-pump Hackerspaces  

It’s not too often that we cover food here on Hackaday, but when we saw how a laser cutter was being used to help enhance the look of sushi, we decided to share. Even if you don’t enjoy sushi, it’s hard not to argue that it can often be more like edible art than simply [...]

Tags:  laser-cutter edible-art hackaday laser hacks  

[Bradley Gawthrop's] biggest gripe about his laser cutter is the lack of Mac support. We don’t think we’d have any gripes if we owned one of these (yeah, that’s a lie…) but we can understand his second biggest issue which is the inability to see the work piece once it’s inside the machine. He figured [...]

Tags:  laser epilog cutter bradley-gawthrop mac laser-cutter epilog-laser gawthrop hacks  

[Alex] got his hands on an Epiloge laser cutter the easy way — the company he works for bought one. We’re sure he’s not trying to rub it in, but he really does make the tool look and sound cool in the post he wrote purely to show off the new toy hardware. This model is [...]

Tags:  didn case laser alex laser-cutters laser-cutter new-toy hacks  

The results of the Full Spectrum Laser contest over at Build Lounge have been announce. The top prize of a 40 watt deluxe laser cutter goes to [Grenadier] for the portable x-ray machine we saw at the beginning of the month. We think this is an excellent choice for top prize because, come on, this [...]

Tags:  grenadier laser cutter laser-cutter ray-machine full-spectrum contests  

A few months ago, Buildlounge and Full Spectrum Laser started a contest to win a 40 Watt laser cutter. The only requirement? Submit a project that uses light in some way. The deadline is now over and voting is open, right on the buildlounge.com page. First place gets a 40 Watt laser cutter provided by Full Spectrum Laser. [...]

Tags:  laser cutter buildlounge watt-laser laser-cutter full-spectrum contests  

Hack A Day’s own [Jack Buffington] finally finished the solar clock he built for the buildlounge.com laser cutter giveaway. [Jack] has been putting up the build log on his blog, and now the project is finally complete. The clock operates entirely on solar power. Instead of fancy-smanchy electronics, this clock puts a new spin on [...]

Tags:  day clock hack jack-buffington jack solar-clock laser-cutter buffington hacks  

Hack a Day’s very own [Jack Buffington] is throwing his hat into the ring for the Buildlounge laser cutter giveaway with his solar clock that isn’t a sundial. The theory behind [Jack]‘s clock is pretty simple. The light from the sun will be captured by a camera obscura/pinhole camera. The sun’s rays shine on dozens of optical [...]

Tags:  isn clock sundial jackbuffington jack solar-clock s-rays laser-cutter hacks  

The guys at BuildLounge wrote us to share a giant LED sign they came across in the submission pile for their “Win a Laser Cutter” contest that’s currently under way. [Stephen Shaffer] helps run a huge party called Fantastic Planet, for which the group typically outsources the lighting arrangements. They got tired of hiring light [...]

Tags:  led custom party stephen-shaffer lighting-arrangements laser-cutter arduino hacks  

In the quest for a diy laser cutter made from DVD burner parts (that hack’s still in the works) this guy ended up with a junk box full of optical-drive leftovers. He put some of that surplus to good use by building this stroboscope. As the media spins, the white LED just out of focus [...]

Tags:  drive project stroboscope laser-cutter arduino junk-box hacks  

[Erik] has been keeping extremely busy with his latest project, a flexible RGB LED matrix that he calls “Project Light Bright”. The folks at BuildLounge tell us that this is the first entry they have received so far in their “Light Contest”, in which they are giving away a free laser cutter to the best [...]

Tags:  led matrix project erik led-matrix laser-cutter free-laser hacks  

[Paul] a.k.a. [VoidFraction] put up the source and documentation for his sculptures made with laser cut polygons. For computing his triangles, [Paul] developed LcAgl, an algorithm that transforms a 3D model into the AutoCAD file needed to cut a whole bunch of triangles and connectors. This file was shot over to a laser cutter and [...]

Tags:  playstation file laser paul laser-cutter 3d-model triangles cnc hacks  

Buildlounge and Full Spectrum Laser have decided to give away a laser cutter to whoever comes up with the best project involving light. The contest is in part sponsored by  adafruit industries. The focus of the contest is light – just design something around light, submit it, and you’re in the drawing for your own [...]

Tags:  laser contest cutter laser-cutter full-spectrum adafruit contests  

[Brian] from Louisville’s LVL1 hackerspace sent in this laser cut gear clock that’s almost unlike any other clock we’ve seen before. [Brian] also put up a wonderful Instructable for his build. Since LVL1 got a better laser cutter a lot of neat projects have been piling up. [Brian] based his clock around two cheap stepper [...]

Tags:  laser clock lvl brian louisville instructable neat-projects laser-cutter hacks  

[peter] send in a reprappable laser cutter that he’s been working on. Even though he’s still having some problems with the accuracy of the beam over the entire square meter bed, it’s still an amazing build. The build started off with a bunch of t-slot aluminum extrusions. After taking delivery of an absurdly large package [...]

Tags:  laser peter cutter aluminum-extrusions laser-cutter square-meter cnc hacks  

When the Louisville hackerspace LVL1 was discussing the purchase of a new laser cutter, a member said, “I could build one before you get around to buying one.”  The gauntlet was thrown down, a challenge was set, and the race was on to build a tiny laser cutter before the hackerspace took delivery of their [...]

Tags:  laser challenge cutter louisville laser-cutter gauntlet arduino hacks  

[Tinkerer] bought a small cupboard from an antique store to fit nicely into his kitchen decor. After getting it home, he realized that some of the cubbyholes had originally housed drawers. The originals were long gone but this provided an opportunity for him to make the replacements seen above. The first design approach that popped [...]

Tags:  script laser parametric laser-cutter cubbyholes tinkerer cnc hacks  

We usually avoid the prospect of buying new tools just for one project. In the long run we’re sure we’d use them again, but sometimes even with that outlook you can’t afford it. Case in point is our life-long-lust for a laser cutter; we just can’t justify the upfront cost but we sure would use [...]

Tags:  machine robot shop laser-cutter case-in-point new-tools robots hacks  

[Rich] was having quite a bit of fun with his newly-acquired laser cutter, but was not impressed by the stock aiming laser that came with it. The problem with the built-in laser is that it did not actually follow the cutting laser’s path – instead, it has to be calibrated for a fixed focal length. [...]

Tags:  laser crosshair cutter rich laser-cutter fixed-focal-length bit-of-fun cnc hacks  

Psst…wanna buy a laser cutter, but not ready to sell your internal organs? Nortd Labs’ Lasersaur project aims to create an open source large-format laser cutter/engraver that undercuts (har har!) the cost of commercial models by an order of magnitude. A Lasersaur built strictly using componentry from the globally-available bill of materials will set you back [...]

Tags:  laser lasersaur cutter laser-cutter commercial-models internal-organs cnc hacks  

This circuit illustration adds a scrolling paper feeder to the bed of a laser cutter. In the video after the break you can see that the actual assembly is put on the bed of the laser cutter. After the laser has cut out the specified pattern, the scroll is wound to move an un-cut portion [...]

Tags:  laser bed paper paper-feeder laser-cutter lasers arduino hacks  

[Greg] built himself a small indicator dial with his laser cutter, and wanted to use it for visualizing server performance and load information. Before he started using it for server monitoring however, he thought he should test out his data parsing skills on a simpler data set. Pachube has a wealth of information that can [...]

Tags:  server information data greg laser-cutter server-monitoring server-performance arduino hacks  

Have a bunch of time on your hands, and about $2,500 sitting around? Why not settle in and build yourself a laser cutter? That’s exactly what Buildlog forum member [r691175002] did, and he told us about it in our comments just a few moments ago. Laser cutters can be pretty cost prohibitive depending on what [...]

Tags:  laser cash cutter laser-cutters laser-cutter few-moments cnc hacks  

A zoetrope is a device that contains a disk full with a series of images that make up and animation. A couple of different methods can be used to trick the eye into seeing a single animated image. In the past this was done by placing the images inside of a cylinder with slits at [...]

Tags:  processing kinect zoetrope laser-cutter animated-image misc hacks  

[Rich] over at NothingLabs has put together a really cool laser light show that you really must see in an effort to win a laser cutter from Instructables. His walkthrough discusses the mechanics of laser light shows – specifically how galvanometers are typically used to precisely aim mirrors in order to draw images and write [...]

Tags:  show laser control rich laser-light-show galvanometers laser-cutter arduino hacks  

The Buildlog.net 2.x Laser is a second generation open source laser cutter that definitely improves the design of the first model. The 2 axis machine (optional vertical axis is manual or an upgrade is available) boasts a large 12” x 20” x 4” workspace while being smaller than its predecessor, fitting a table top design. [...]

Tags:  laser cutter source vertical-axis laser-cutter first-model hacks  

[James] came up with a way to make small numbers of high-contrast instrument panels cheaply, and without too much labor. We’ll make with the bad news right away; you’re going to need a laser cutter to use this method. Traditionally, panels that look like the one above are etched onto special composite that has one [...]

Tags:  etching way panel james laser-cutter instrument-panels high-contrast laser hacks  

[Owen] contacted us to show us his site dedicated to his CO2 laser cutter build. He spent about 2 years and roughly $15,000 putting it together, so this is not small build. The laser and optics alone were $9,000. This site isn’t necessarily meant to be a template to build your own, but he shares [...]

Tags:  laser cutter site owen c02-laser laser-cutter optics cnc hacks  

[Bart] figured out how to use his laser cutter as a 3D printer. We’ve checked in on his open source laser cutter in the past and we’re happy to see he’s now done with the build. But rather than stop there he took it a step further. For less than $200 he built an extruder [...]

Tags:  printer laser cutter bart laser-cutter 3d-printer extruder cnc hacks  

We covet laser cutters and this diy model with a 1 Watt IR diode may be well within our price range. Most commercially available laser cutters, and some homemade ones, work in the 20-100 Watt ranges, using a CO2 laser. They have more than enough power to cut right through a lot of materials so [...]

Tags:  laser watt cutter laser-cutters laser-cutter co2-laser hacks  

Do you have access to a laser cutter? If so, you can use [Riley Porter's] method to cut your own solder stencils. He starts with the Eagle files and exports the Dimension and tCream layers to a PDF. That file is then processed using Ghostwriter, Gview, and finally, Corel draw. The result is a 1200dpi [...]

Tags:  access solder laser riley-porter gview laser-cutter 1200dpi tool hacks  

[Daniel's] horrifying hexapod makes us wish we were sitting next to a laser cutter. The parts are cut from 4.9mm plywood and include laser-sculpted sections to allow the twenty servos to properly seat in their mounting spaces. We would suggest that you build it in secret so as not to ruin the surprise when your [...]

Tags:  laser spiderbot envy daniel laser-cutter hexapod servos robots hacks